Carvin T100 Tube amp

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EL34 Groove tubes sound warm and clean at any volume.

Believe it or not, mine went back twice in four years. The first was the fan. The second was the bios panel for the tubes.

Customer support is great and went as far as to fix it free once.

If you can't afford a VHT or Marshall 9100 tube rackmount amp,this will take less space in the rack and less out of the bank account with better sound. Best bang for the buck.

I bought this amp based on the reviews on Harmony Central, it has 2 channels as it is a stereo power amp. This my first rackmount tube amp I have bought and I very very happy with it. The tubes that are in it are 5881's and do no break up when driven hard.

This baby is as clean as a whistle on high volumes, no breakup when driven hard. It has Hi and Lo Z inputs only thing that sucks is that the presence controls are at the back of the amp.

I had the fuse blow up when I was fooling around with the power lead, but that was my fault, other than that I have had no problems with it.

Haven't dealt with them. But we have an authorized service center to get it serviced.

If you have a wicked pre-amp (SGS2112) and don't won't to colour you sound get this amp cause it kicks. But for the price it is very very good :)

The TUBE100 is relatively straight-forward to use. There are two level controls on the front and two presence controls on the back. The only thing that could be even the slightest bit tricky is making sure that you have all of the impedence settings correct for the speakers you are using. Not very hard!
The manual is very straightforward and holds your hand right through set-up.

This amp is really nice! Quite warm, and in the bridged 100 watt mono setting, is plenty powerful. It is very quiet, and even the fan is pretty quiet. I did get a weird buzz once, but I think that was one of my cords.
One of the features I really like is the factor that the Tube 100 has balanced inputs, which maximize signal and reduce noise.

Since I just got it, and I heard that strange buzz, I think I'll still take my Marshall to the gigs. At least for a while. Too early to tell.

Salesperson was surly, everyone else was really nice when I called for the status of my order. My order arrived in six days, just like they said. It was shipped UPS.

The only thing I don't like is the fact that the Presence Controls are on the back. That is slightly bothersome. Oh yeah, the thing weighs a ton! Other than that, it is great!

Highly recommended power amp. I bought it March of 1995 and have used it exclusively since. Demoed A/B against Mesa 50/50 and Marshall 9100. Mine uses EL-34, which I prefer. After a year and a half of almost daily use and hard gigging, just replaced tubes for first time. Sounds just like really good Power Amp should, adds a sweet tube compression and warmth. Surprisingly good spank and punch on clean sounds (given the EL-34's) and nice rich harmonics on overdrive and distortion sounds. It never "clogs up" lets the notes all ring clear even with extremely high gain applied. Top marks across the board. Although I will agree the access to the tubes (you have to remove the top) is a bit of work if I ever had to do it before a gig. On the other hand, the tubes are very well protected from bumps and bruises.

Really superior due to the fact that you have low-z and hi-z ins (I actually prefer the hi-z 1/4"), presence controls for each channel, bridgeable outputs, completely seperate channels for stereo outputs. Well thought out and really has the "tubeness" vibe to the tone.

As noted above, one and a half years of daily use and I just replaced the tubes for the first time. In my SKB rack case, it is heavy like a mutha, but makes up for the heft with sound quality and dependability.

Carvin is exceptional in all customer support, I have never had any bad experiece with them and many of my friends who have used them report the same service. One even had some cabinets custom wired for a very weird set-up he had, and they had no problem with it. Thumbs up. One other side note, I do not work for Carvin, nor am I affliated with them in any other way. They just really make great stuff, and I think they should be applauded for it.

Overall, if you don't try this unit and demo it against the competition, you are truly missing out on a super unit that compares favorably with units costing twice as much. There is no comprimise on sound, build quality or features with any other 100 watt tube power amp under a $1000US.

2x50 Watts tube power amp, bridgeable to 100 Watt. 4x5881power tubes (older models use EL 34), 2x12AX7 preamp tubes, 4,8,16 Ohm impedance selectors for each channel, adjustable presence for each channel, balanced and unbalanced inputs, volume control for each channel, power and standby switch, 110/220 V line selector.

Versatile tube power amp. Reproduces the the sought after british tone in combination with a Marshall JMP-1 preamp. It is also able to deliver a very sweet tone in combination with my Soldano SP-77. The setting of presence pots on the back play a very important role. From clean to shred everything is possible.

No problems so far, even during road abuse. Always played without backup. Amp needs to be removed from rack and opened for tube replacement, this could be a problem in a live situation.

No need for support so far.

I would buy one again. It takes only two rackspaces compared to the Marshall 9100 and is less expensive. If the power tubes would be accessible as with the Mesa Boogie 50/50 I would call it the best buy.